OK, I need some help here. Due to circumstaces that arose about three years ago that allows me to use a hobby to make money (the best of both worlds) my appearance has become front and center more or less. I really need to try to get to the 140-150 pound mark. I am 5'9" so it isn't an unhealthy weight for me. I have about 30-40 pounds left and seem to have hit a brick wall of sorts. I was consuming roughly 1200 calories a day and the weight was coming off quickly at around 4 pound a week. Recently 1200 cals don't seem to work anymore. Has anyone experince this and if so will the weight eventually start falling again or should I drop my coloric intake until the point it starts coming off again? By the way, my abdoman has flattened and my face still seems to be getting thinner but everytime I weigh myself (once a week) it seems like I'm stuck at the same weight.

On to hair color. My hair is kinda' dirty blond and would really like to go, in a perfect world, either jet black or platinum blonde or close to it anyway. I don't really want to fry it or damge it too much but am seeking advice as to what would be less stressful being narually dirty blonde. The jet black I would really like to to have the blueish strands and depth when the light hits it right. This effect I have rarely seen in colored hair and don't even know if it is possible. The blonde I know I would have to worry about roots but that doesn't bother me and actually find it looks good on other's, or I think so anyways. I plan on using a professional and not myself because I can only imagine how bad I would mess it up. I would really like to get some opinions and experiences before talking to a stylist.

I am not worried about going to extremes too fast because everyone around me is aware of why. I am also not worried about all the blonde jokes even though they disgust me at times because plenty of them have been pointed at me enough times. In this case I am not really trying to make it complementary to my looks as much as a way to stand out but not too rash for toned down times if possible. If it helps with the hair color I am caucasian and have a tan. Any help and all advice from guys and girls will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jessica.

A good stylist can do the blue/black hair you mention..

Quote from: Kelly the Trans-Rebel on June 19, 2013, 09:59:05 AM
A good stylist can do the blue/black hair you mention..

Thanks Kelly that helps a lot. When it comes to the jetblack that is what I want to aim for and was afraid I wouldn't be able to achieve. Since I can write it off on taxes, cost really isn't much of an issue and will splurge quite a bit on it.

The dirty blond roots on the blue black hair will show faster and look worse than dirty blond roots with the blond, which is kind of a look all its own. I admit I got kind of compulsive about my roots and touched up every 3 weeks or so... but you kind of have to if you want the blue-black illusion and you have light colored hair naturally. Also, the blue part of the blue-black fades quickly thus more incentive to touch up.

The colors mean very different things to people. Both have their fans.

Both hard on hair... bleach famously makes thin hair look fuller, thus older women with thinning hair often like it. I have ash brown hair naturally and even a pro could not get my hair to platinum.

If you go white blond and want to change it later, there is no problem. If you go black, you are stuck. A stylist can strip the black out somewhat but not back to any kind of blond.

Thanks Reedling. If its that hard to go back to my natural color if I go the black, I'll probably shoot for the blonde. I may just try for blonder instead of the really bright shades because I am so afraid of damaging it too much and I just would'nt feel right with short hair. And with the roots deal, the blonde would look better with dark roots than the black with light roots.

Quote from: Jess42 on June 19, 2013, 09:48:08 AM
OK, I need some help here. Due to circumstaces that arose about three years ago that allows me to use a hobby to make money (the best of both worlds) my appearance has become front and center more or less. I really need to try to get to the 140-150 pound mark. I am 5'9" so it isn't an unhealthy weight for me. I have about 30-40 pounds left and seem to have hit a brick wall of sorts. I was consuming roughly 1200 calories a day and the weight was coming off quickly at around 4 pound a week. Recently 1200 cals don't seem to work anymore. Has anyone experince this and if so will the weight eventually start falling again or should I drop my coloric intake until the point it starts coming off again? By the way, my abdoman has flattened and my face still seems to be getting thinner but everytime I weigh myself (once a week) it seems like I'm stuck at the same weight.

A couple things:
1. Stay off the scale. It's really misleading. Take pictures of yourself once every 2-4 weeks and compare the pictures to see progress instead.

2. You only mentioned lowering your caloric intake in this post. What about exercise? For me, dieting doesn't do anything. I end up plateauing in much the same way you have where I just stay the same weight all the time. The exercise is what really works for me, but I have to do it consistently. If I do it for a month, then quit, I actually end up gaining weight. I believe that happens because the low calories I'm consuming aren't enough, so my body breaks down the muscles, which are higher in nutrients than the fat, and I end up back at square 1.

Quote from: Jess42 on June 20, 2013, 07:57:00 AM
Thanks Reedling. If its that hard to go back to my natural color if I go the black, I'll probably shoot for the blonde. I may just try for blonder instead of the really bright shades because I am so afraid of damaging it too much and I just would'nt feel right with short hair. And with the roots deal, the blonde would look better with dark roots than the black with light roots.

I think that's a good call especially since you are concerned about damage. When a good colorist looks at your hair you might get new info about what is possible depending on how porous etc. your hair is.

Quote from: Emily Elizabeth on June 20, 2013, 08:00:12 AM
A couple things:
1. Stay off the scale. It's really misleading. Take pictures of yourself once every 2-4 weeks and compare the pictures to see progress instead.

2. You only mentioned lowering your caloric intake in this post. What about exercise? For me, dieting doesn't do anything. I end up plateauing in much the same way you have where I just stay the same weight all the time. The exercise is what really works for me, but I have to do it consistently. If I do it for a month, then quit, I actually end up gaining weight. I believe that happens because the low calories I'm consuming aren't enough, so my body breaks down the muscles, which are higher in nutrients than the fat, and I end up back at square 1.

Thanks Emily. Sounds like our metabolism is pretty much the same. My doctor has even called it extremely efficient in that it stores more fat than others' do. I guess during the down fall of society I'll have an edge on everyone else though, but what's the chances of that happening?

I weighed this morning and it is slowly but surely going down still. I lost 1 1/2 pounds this week. Before though I was losing roughly 5 pounds a week. I will try to do a little more exercising though and see how that goes.

Quote from: Reedling on June 20, 2013, 08:07:18 AM
I think that's a good call especially since you are concerned about damage. When a good colorist looks at your hair you might get new info about what is possible depending on how porous etc. your hair is.

It's more like terrified over damaging it Reedling. I don't really know how porous it is because I've never needed to do this before but now that I need to stand out and look a certain way, this is the best way that I can think of. I don't know about porous but it is extremely thick. I had a stylist one time tell me that If I ever started losing my hair, there's no hope for anyone else. That kind of made me feel good even though it is unmanageable.

That level of weight loss is actually pretty stunning. It's an oversimplification but a rule of thumb is that a 3500 calorie deficit will equate to losing a pound of weight (depending what it is you're losing and metabolism etc). Having a deficit of 500 per day would roughly equate to losing a pound a week. Without a ton on exercise, it's quite tough to lose quite as much as you had in the past. The best advice is keep watching what you eat, keep exercising to balance it out and keep the metabolism up, and lastly be proud of how much you've done so far! It's impressive

Quote from: Andaya on June 20, 2013, 10:00:48 AM
That level of weight loss is actually pretty stunning. It's an oversimplification but a rule of thumb is that a 3500 calorie deficit will equate to losing a pound of weight (depending what it is you're losing and metabolism etc). Having a deficit of 500 per day would roughly equate to losing a pound a week. Without a ton on exercise, it's quite tough to lose quite as much as you had in the past. The best advice is keep watching what you eat, keep exercising to balance it out and keep the metabolism up, and lastly be proud of how much you've done so far! It's impressive

Thanks Andaya. I was over 200 by a wee tiny bit and now as of this morning 171. I check once a week and no more. But even at around 3000 calories which is what I was eating and drinking roughly a day, I was gaining weight fast.

In the military going through basic, the average calories per day was roughly 4500. No sweets unless it was cold and or in MREs. Pretty much carbs and protiens. I went in at 145 pounds and came out at 168 pounds more fat than muscle. We PTed our butts off so exericise was covered really well. Marching everywhere we went and a 7 and 15 mile road march. Drill sergeants were 2 ex Rangers and 1 ex Special Forces so we ran between three to five miles a day and sometimes more. All this and I gained fat?

Before the military I would only eat one meal a day and not very much when I did, guesstimating around 2000 calories. I would also drink around 3 sodas a day which would put the total at 2600 calories per day and the job I had was pretty much physically full throttle all day long. I had plenty of energy and was extremely healthy. As a matter of fact the military doctor said I was healtier than anyone else coming in during that cycle. The problem is that I love food but it hates me.

To lose weight like that I had to cut my calories to around 1200 per day and the weight dropped quick, I feel better, can move easier and almost as flexible as I was at 21. Now I am at about 900 calories after the weightloss slowed tremedously. I am getting there slowly but surely though if only I can maintain the will power.

If you are very worried about damage to your hair and really want to stand out... wigs?

I had a similar experience with my metabolism, Jess42, and I'm not sure if it's just the way my body is or that I trained it to be that way like an idiot. As a kid, I was doing cardio literally from sunrise to sunset every day of the week (riding a bike). Sometimes I'd even ride my bike several miles to get to a track and run for an hour or so, then hop on that bike to ride home again. Add wrestling to that and omg. And I wondered why at over 25,000 kcals a day, I couldn't gain any weight.

I thought Parris Island was going to put me in the best shape of my life, but it wasn't as hard as wrestling practice was. I was on double portions with a waiver because my weight was too low and I actually started falling out of shape while I was there. Picked up the first 10lbs of weight gain during that time. Now at almost 40, it comes on so fast that I can't figure out how to get rid of it. I've even tried nutritionists to get the calories right because nothing seems to work. I'm starting to believe that the only way I'm going to lose weight is to go back to doing what I did as a kid and start training for marathons now.

Quote from: Reedling on June 21, 2013, 06:19:24 AM
If you are very worried about damage to your hair and really want to stand out... wigs?

Good idea Reedling but unfortunately I tried it and it doesn't work too well and the whole wet with sweat look plays into it too and can't seem to get that with a wig. I am still undecided and thinking about just a couple of shades brighter or even that Hombre look. Is anyone familiar with that?

Quote from: Emily Elizabeth on June 21, 2013, 07:50:56 AM
I had a similar experience with my metabolism, Jess42, and I'm not sure if it's just the way my body is or that I trained it to be that way like an idiot. As a kid, I was doing cardio literally from sunrise to sunset every day of the week (riding a bike). Sometimes I'd even ride my bike several miles to get to a track and run for an hour or so, then hop on that bike to ride home again. Add wrestling to that and omg. And I wondered why at over 25,000 kcals a day, I couldn't gain any weight.

I thought Parris Island was going to put me in the best shape of my life, but it wasn't as hard as wrestling practice was. I was on double portions with a waiver because my weight was too low and I actually started falling out of shape while I was there. Picked up the first 10lbs of weight gain during that time. Now at almost 40, it comes on so fast that I can't figure out how to get rid of it. I've even tried nutritionists to get the calories right because nothing seems to work. I'm starting to believe that the only way I'm going to lose weight is to go back to doing what I did as a kid and start training for marathons now.

I don't really know how long I actually can go without eating, but I'm sure other's would die from starvation long before I would. I definately felt more out of shape after Basic than I did before starting it. I was a little stronger for sure but as for flexability it it actually went down. Before Basic Training I could put my legs behind my head after only rest it on the knees. Had no problem crossing my legs ladylike and afterward more like the ankle on the knee. I had to work hard to get back to ladylike. I did gain a little muscle though but also more fat during the training. I have been noticing though that what used to fit keeps getting looser so that definately is a plus. I bought a tape measure (seemstress' type not carpenter's) and gonna start measuring along with the weighing.